Search Recharge

LOG IN TO Recharge

Log in or start a trial to access this article

Global wind power base grows to nearly 490GW: GWEC report

The wind industry added a further 54GW of plant to the grid around the world last year, with turbines in more than 90 countries making up an installed generating capacity of 486.8GW, according to figures from the Global Wind Energy Council’s (GWEC) latest Global Wind Report.

During 2016’s 12.6% growth, nine nations joined the 10GW-plus installed club, and 29 now have 1GW or more turning. Wind power penetration in Denmark is pushing 40%, Uruguay, Portugal and Ireland over 20%, Spain and Cyprus 20%, Germany 16%, and Canada 6%, with first tier markets China and the US getting 4% and 5.5%, respectively.

“Wind power is now successfully competing with heavily subsidised incumbents across the globe, building new industries, creating hundreds of thousands of jobs and leading the way towards a clean energy future,” stated GWEC secretary general Steve Sawyer, who launched the yearbook today at the Windergy event in New Delhi, India.

“We are well into a period of disruptive change, moving away from power systems centered on a few large, polluting plants towards markets increasingly dominated by a range of widely distributed renewable energy sources.”

GWEC’s rolling five-year forecast anticipates almost 60GW of new wind installations in 2017, expanding to an annual market of some 75GW by 2021 as the global installed capacity moves past the 800GW mark.

Wind power’s main engine will be Asia: China will continue as market-leader, but India is in the ascendancy, setting a new record for installations in 2016 and with “a real shot” to meet the government’s ambitious targets for the sector, says Sawyer and there are a number of exciting new markets in the region with great potential. North American market fundamentals are characterised as “strong”, by Sawyer.

Europe’s “steady if unspectacular march” towards the regional 2020 installation targets, meanwhile, has had a spring put in its step by the dramatic price reductions for offshore wind, which witnessed tenders for acreage off the Netherlands drop to below €50/MWh last year before the most recent German auction was won with “zero-subsidy” bids.

Sawyer told journalists in New Delhi today: "We've had quite an extraordinary breakthrough in the last 12 months, with prices cratering."

The GWEC chief said a combination of experienced developers, scale of projects and – above all – larger turbines meant the offshore sector is finally starting to fulfil its widely-identified potential.

Several OEMs are already working on turbines above 10MW, promising to eliminate more of the sector's single biggest cost factor, the foundations, Sawyer added.

South America’s shifting industrial landscape has seen Brazil’s growth stalled by a combination of political and economic woes, but other countries are stepping into the breach, particularly Uruguay, Chile and the region’s “most exciting new market”, Argentina, suggests Sawyer.

Africa is expected to have “a big year” in 2017, led by Kenya, South Africa and Morocco, while the long-stalled Australian market looks like “coming roaring back with a strong pipeline of projects” to be built out over the next few years, he adds.

“Overall, we have a lot of confidence in the wind power market going forward, as the technology continues to improve, prices continue to go down and the call for clean, renewable power to reduce emissions, clean our air and create new jobs and new industries only gets stronger with each passing year,” Sawyer states.

This year’s GWEC's Global Wind Report (available via the GWEC website) includes insights into the 20 top sector markets across the world, including new wind power hotspots Vietnam and Argentina, a five-year market forecast to 2021, a special feature chapter on corporate sourcing of renewables and an update on global offshore wind.

Premium subscription at less than $5 per business day!

Stay tuned with our free daily newsletter

Be in the know of the most important headline every day

Global wind power base grows to nearly 490GW: GWEC report

The wind industry added a further 54GW of plant to the grid around the world last year, with turbines in more than 90 countries making up an installed generating capacity of 486.8GW, according to figures from the Global Wind Energy Council’s (GWEC) latest Global Wind Report.

During 2016’s 12.6% growth, nine nations joined the 10GW-plus installed club, and 29 now have 1GW or more turning. Wind power penetration in Denmark is pushing 40%, Uruguay, Portugal and Ireland over 20%, Spain and Cyprus 20%, Germany 16%, and Canada 6%, with first tier markets China and the US getting 4% and 5.5%, respectively.

“Wind power is now successfully competing with heavily subsidised incumbents across the globe, building new industries, creating hundreds of thousands of jobs and leading the way towards a clean energy future,” stated GWEC secretary general Steve Sawyer, who launched the yearbook today at the Windergy event in New Delhi, India.

“We are well into a period of disruptive change, moving away from power systems centered on a few large, polluting plants towards markets increasingly dominated by a range of widely distributed renewable energy sources.”

GWEC’s rolling five-year forecast anticipates almost 60GW of new wind installations in 2017, expanding to an annual market of some 75GW by 2021 as the global installed capacity moves past the 800GW mark.

Wind power’s main engine will be Asia: China will continue as market-leader, but India is in the ascendancy, setting a new record for installations in 2016 and with “a real shot” to meet the government’s ambitious targets for the sector, says Sawyer and there are a number of exciting new markets in the region with great potential. North American market fundamentals are characterised as “strong”, by Sawyer.

Europe’s “steady if unspectacular march” towards the regional 2020 installation targets, meanwhile, has had a spring put in its step by the dramatic price reductions for offshore wind, which witnessed tenders for acreage off the Netherlands drop to below €50/MWh last year before the most recent German auction was won with “zero-subsidy” bids.

Sawyer told journalists in New Delhi today: "We've had quite an extraordinary breakthrough in the last 12 months, with prices cratering."

The GWEC chief said a combination of experienced developers, scale of projects and – above all – larger turbines meant the offshore sector is finally starting to fulfil its widely-identified potential.

Several OEMs are already working on turbines above 10MW, promising to eliminate more of the sector's single biggest cost factor, the foundations, Sawyer added.

South America’s shifting industrial landscape has seen Brazil’s growth stalled by a combination of political and economic woes, but other countries are stepping into the breach, particularly Uruguay, Chile and the region’s “most exciting new market”, Argentina, suggests Sawyer.

Africa is expected to have “a big year” in 2017, led by Kenya, South Africa and Morocco, while the long-stalled Australian market looks like “coming roaring back with a strong pipeline of projects” to be built out over the next few years, he adds.

“Overall, we have a lot of confidence in the wind power market going forward, as the technology continues to improve, prices continue to go down and the call for clean, renewable power to reduce emissions, clean our air and create new jobs and new industries only gets stronger with each passing year,” Sawyer states.

This year’s GWEC's Global Wind Report (available via the GWEC website) includes insights into the 20 top sector markets across the world, including new wind power hotspots Vietnam and Argentina, a five-year market forecast to 2021, a special feature chapter on corporate sourcing of renewables and an update on global offshore wind.